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Panel Debates Medical-Marijuana Proposal

If Arkansas voters approve medical marijuana in November, a supporter said it will protect sick and dying patients from arrest and prosecution, while opponents said it would make marijuana more widely available to children and increase crime.

Ryan Denham, campaign director for Arkansans for Compassionate Care, Mona Clemons with River Valley Drug-Free Coalition and Sebastian County Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck shared their opinions on the proposed Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act at a Fort Smith League of Women Voter’s forum on Monday.

The Marijuana Act would allow a patient suffering from one of 15 listed diseases to receive medical marijuana — upon a doctor’s recommendation — from one of up to 30 nonprofit medical marijuana dispensaries in the state, which would be regulated by the Arkansas Department of Health.

Denham said the proposed initiative in Arkansas is not comparable to legislation in states like California, Oregon and other western states, which are much less restrictive than what Arkansas voters are being asked to consider.

“This takes sick people off the ‘war on drugs’ battlefield,” Denham said.

Hollenbeck said he would never claim there aren’t people who could possibly benefit from medicinal marijuana, but as a law enforcement officer he has to look at the overall general impact of the proposed act, which would make marijuana more widely available to everyone.

Also, just as there are people who abuse prescription drugs and sell their prescriptions to addicts, Hollenbeck said the same would be true with medicinal marijuana, which just adds one more element to the system.

The sheriff added that there are already enough prescription medications “out there to make things dangerous for you and I.”

Denham didn’t deny people would find ways to abuse the system — as they do already with regard to pain and anti-anxiety prescription drugs — saying there never would be foolproof systems to prevent abuse, but people can try to create the best possible systems.

Clemons said it isn’t up to voters to determine what is or isn’t good medicine, “that’s why we have the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration).”

But Denham pointed out that some of the narcotic drugs approved by the FDA often damage the liver and kidneys, and he added there is no documented overdose death from marijuana “in the history of mankind.”

Like Hollenbeck, Clemons also raised concern that the Marijuana Act would make marijuana more readily accessible, which she said is even more alarming in light of studies that show more than one-third of school-age children have used marijuana.

Hollenbeck and Clemons also said studies show marijuana is a “gateway drug” that leads to use of harder drugs like cocaine or heroin and crime increases near marijuana dispensaries in states where medical marijuana has been approved.

Denham countered that other studies indicate tobacco and alcohol are the real gateway drugs and there is no correlation between the establishment of a marijuana dispensary and crime.

While Denham and Clemons were passionate on polar opposites of the issue, they both encouraged voters to educate themselves on the matter before they go to the polls.

Also Monday, State Rep. Tracy Pennartz, D-Fort Smith, addressed the League briefly about Proposed Amendment 1, which was referred to voters by the Arkansas General Assembly.

Pennartz said the proposed amendment asks Arkansas voters to approve a temporary 1/2 percent sales tax — which could last no longer than 10 years — to fund maintenance and construction for state highways, county roads, city streets and bridges.

Its estimated the tax could raise up to $1.3 billion, with $670 million being equally shared among cities and counties, through creation of a “street aid fund,” Pennartz said.

Its estimated Sebastian County would receive about $755,000 annually under the program, while Fort Smith would receive an estimated $1.5 million each year, Pennartz said.